32 Programmes

Funny and well-paced. The reader is in the hands of a skilled story-teller. This is not a book aimed at anoraks; it’s a memoir filled with wit and emotion. * Thin White Line *A little gem… a brilliant way to reflect on his love affair with football – Henry Winter * Daily Telegraph *Very funny in wry, Nick Hornby-esque fashion… This memoir will gain a lot of fans – Simon Redfern * Independent on Sunday *Remarkable… A book that every woman should study, for the unique insight it offers into the impenetrable enigma of the male mind – Jane Shilling * Daily Mail *A brilliant idea nicely executed, it’s certainly the funniest sport-related read this Christmas – Christopher Maume * Independent *A wistful evocation of the author’s early life told through a vast accumulation of football programmes he was forced to cull – Huw Richards * Guardian *Imagine loafing in your favourite armchair, old mates around, beers and bites on hand, humour high, watching and discussing re-runs of memorable football matches. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Well, it’s not far off what you get with Dave Roberts’ delightful homage to the beautiful game, and the part his life has played in it… A book full of the joys, miseries, near-misses, hopes, failures and fun of life, in this case a football obsessive’s, but it’s one we can all find something to identify with. A heart-warmer – Jon Wise * Book of the Week, Sunday Sport *Hugely enjoyable, poignant book… Dave Roberts’ wonderful series of tales explain why every one of the programmes made it into the box; each is infused with a mixture of touching reminiscence or laugh-out-loud anecdote * Birmingham Post *Deliriously enjoyable… utterly engaging – Caroline Sanderson * The Bookseller *Nostalgically warm in its tender recall of the way things used to be, this is a book for the true football follower, whose life has been shaped by the game and doesn’t mind admitting it – Duncan Hamilton, two-time winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award

Dave Roberts has been one of those annoying bike couriers, a security guard, a Civil Servant, a KFC chef who was fired for trying to steal a sample of the secret recipe, and a train driver - all before reaching the age of twenty. After that, he settled for a career in advertising, which was eventually cut short by illness, but not before accidentally winning a Silver Lion at Cannes. He now writes books, which all seem to have a theme in common- obsession …

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